Georgiana School head coach David Watts and the Panthers are going back to the basics.

It’s not just a good idea. It’s a necessity.

With just 11 players on the varsity squad, the Panthers will have to be versatile.

“We’re in a learning process,” Watts said. “We have got a lot of young guys and we don’t have a lot of players on the team, so guys are going to have to be able to do a lot of different things.”

Watts, who is in his first year at the helm of the Georgiana program, is stressing defense.

“We aren’t going to overwhelm anybody with our offense, so it’s important that we play good defense,” he said. “That’s going to have to be our strength. We need to throw the ball in the strike zone and we need to field it and make plays when it’s hit.”

Offensively, Watts said the key will be putting the ball in play.

“We aren’t real powerful and we don’t have great speed, so we’re going to have to do a good job of putting the ball in play and moving runners,” he said. “We’ve spent a lot of time working on bunting and the hit and run, and that’s we’re going to have to do that in order to give ourselves a chance to win.”

That’s something the Panthers were unable to do in 2011 when they failed to win a game.

“Hopefully that will motivate us some,” Watts said. “I think if we work hard we can win some games.”

The date for Georgiana’s season opener is still uncertain due to the school’s basketball team’s playoff run. A Feb. 24 meeting with Highland Home will be postponed. The teams are also scheduled to play Feb. 28 in Georgiana. First pitch for that contest is set for 3:30 p.m.